Foreign Service (FS) 312 (Archived)

Agreement - Foreign Service - List of Changes

List of Changes to the Agreement between
The Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers - Foreign Service

ARTICLE 2
INTERPRETATION AND DEFINITIONS

2.01 For the purpose of this Agreement:

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"common-law partner" a "common-law partner" relationship exists when, for a continuous period of at least one (1) year, an employee has lived with a person and continues to live with the person as if that person were his or her spouse (conjoint de fait),

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"spouse" will, when required, be interpreted to include "common-law partner" except, for the purposes of the Foreign Service Directives, in which case the definition of "spouse" will remain as specified in Directive 2 of the Foreign Service Directives (époux),

ARTICLE 4
PROVISION OF COMMUNICATION FACILITIES

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4.05 Bulletin Boards

Reasonable space on bulletin boards, in convenient locations, including electronic bulletin boards where available, will be made available to the Association for the posting of official Association notices. The Association shall endeavour to avoid requests for posting of notices which the Employer, acting reasonably, could consider adverse to its interests or to the interests of any of its representatives. Posting of notices or other materials shall require the prior approval of the Employer, except notices related to the business affairs of the Association, including the names of Association representatives, and social and recreational events. Such approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.

ARTICLE 7
SUSPENSION AND DISCIPLINE

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7.01 An employee who is required to attend a meeting, the purpose of which is to conduct a disciplinary hearing concerning her or to render a disciplinary decision concerning her, shall:

(a) where practicable, receive in writing a minimum of one day's notice of such a meeting, as well as its purpose,

(b) at her request, have a representative of the Association attend the meeting, when the representative is readily available.

ARTICLE 10
HOURS OF WORK

10.03 Special Hours of Work

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(e) Special Hours of Work Premium

Effective July 1, 2002, an employee working on workdays will receive a premium of two dollars ($2.00) per hour for all hours worked between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., including overtime hours. This premium will not be paid for hours worked between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

**

(f) Weekend Premium

Effective July 1, 2002, employees shall receive an additional premium of two dollars ($2.00) per hour for all regularly scheduled hours worked at the straight-time hourly rate on Saturday and/or Sunday. Where Saturday and Sunday are not recognized as the weekend at a mission abroad, the Employer may substitute two (2) other contiguous days to conform to local practice.

ARTICLE 11
VARIABLE HOURS OF WORK

11.03 General Terms

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(d) The maximum life of a schedule established under clause 10.03 shall be six (6) months, except at missions abroad when the normal weekly and daily hours of work are varied by the Employer to allow for summer and winter hours, in which case the life of a schedule shall be one (1) year.

11.04 Specific Application of this Agreement

Designated Paid Holidays

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(b) When an employee works on a Designated Paid Holiday, the employee shall be compensated, in addition to the normal daily hours' pay specified by this Agreement, time and one-half (1 1/2) for each completed period of fifteen (15) minutes worked by her.

ARTICLE 12
OVERTIME

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12.01 Exclusion

The provisions of this Article do not apply where an employee attends social engagements unless the employee has received prior authorization and is required to attend by the Employer.

12.02 General

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(a) Subject to clause 12.01, an employee is entitled to overtime compensation for each completed period of fifteen (15) minutes of overtime worked by him:

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12.03 Overtime Compensation on A Scheduled Work Day

Subject to clause 12.02, an employee who is required by the Employer to work overtime on a scheduled work day shall be granted compensation at time and one-half (1 1/2) for each completed period of fifteen (15) minutes of overtime worked.

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12.04 Overtime Compensation on A Day Of Rest

(a) Subject to clause 12.02, an employee who is required by the Employer to report for duty and works on his days of rest shall be compensated for each completed period of fifteen (15) minutes of overtime worked by him on his days of rest;

(b) on the employee's first day of rest, at the rate of time and one-half (1 1/2) for the first seven and one-half (7 1/2) hours of overtime worked and at the double (2) time rate for each contiguous hour thereafter;

(c) on the employee's second or subsequent day of rest:

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12.05 Reporting Pay

Subject to clause 12.02, an employee who is required by the Employer to report for duty and reports on a day of rest shall be paid the greater of:

(a) compensation for each completed period of fifteen (15) minutes worked at the applicable overtime rate of pay;

or

(b) compensation for a minimum period of three (3) hours at the applicable overtime rate of pay, except that this minimum shall apply only the first time that he reports for work during a period of eight (8) hours starting with his first reporting.

12.07 Compensatory Leave

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(c) Compensatory leave earned in a fiscal year and outstanding on September 30 of the next following fiscal year shall be paid at the employee's daily rate of pay on September 30.

12.09 Overtime Meal Allowance

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(a) An employee who works three (3) or more hours of overtime immediately before or immediately following his scheduled hours of work shall be reimbursed for one meal in the amount of ten dollars ($10), except where free meals are provided. Reasonable time with pay to be determined by the Employer shall be allowed the employee in order to take a meal either at or adjacent to his place of work.

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(b) When an employee works overtime continuously extending four (4) hours or more beyond the period provided in (a) above, he shall be reimbursed for one additional meal in the amount of ten dollars ($10), except where free meals are provided. Reasonable time with pay, to be determined by the Employer, shall be allowed the employee in order that he may take a meal break either at or adjacent to his place of work.

ARTICLE 13
CALL-BACK PAY

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13.01 Exclusion

An employee who receives a call to duty or responds to a telephone or data line call at any time outside of his or her scheduled hours of work, may, at the discretion of the Employer, work at the employee's residence or at another place to which the Employer agrees. In such instances, the employee shall be paid the greater of:

(a) compensation at the applicable overtime rate for any time worked,

or

(b) compensation equivalent to one (1) hour's pay at the straight-time rate, which shall apply only the first (1^st) time an employee performs work during an eight (8) hour period, starting when the employee first commences the work.

13.02

(a)

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ARTICLE 14
STANDBY

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14.01 Exclusion

An employee who is on standby and receives a call to duty or is required to respond to telephone calls or data line calls, may at the discretion of the Employer work at the employee's residence or at another place to which the Employer agrees, and receive compensation for time worked in accordance with subparagraph 14.05(b). In such instances, the employee shall not be entitled to compensation under subparagraph 14.05(a)(ii).

14.05

(a)

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(b) An employee who receives a call to duty or responds to a telephone or data line call while on standby or at any other time outside of his or her scheduled hours of work, may at the discretion of the Employer work at the employee's residence or at another place to which the Employer agrees. In such instances, the employee shall be paid the greater of:

ARTICLE 15
DESIGNATED PAID HOLIDAYS

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15.01 Exclusion

Clauses 15.05 and 15.06 do not apply where an employee attends social engagements unless the employee has received prior authorization and is required to attend by the Employer.

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15.06 Compensation for work on a Designated Paid Holiday

(a) An employee who is required by the Employer to report for duty and works on a designated paid holiday shall receive, in addition to the pay that she would have received had she not worked on the holiday, compensation for each completed period of fifteen (15) minutes worked by her on the holiday at time and one-half (1 1/2).

(b) When an employee works on a designated paid holiday which is not her scheduled day of work, immediately following a day of rest on which she also worked and received overtime in accordance with paragraph 12.04(b), she shall receive in addition to the pay that she would have been granted had she not worked on the holiday, compensation for each completed period of fifteen (15) minutes worked at double time (2).

ARTICLE 16
TRAVELLING TIME

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16.01 Subject to clause 34.05, no travel compensation will be paid for travel in connection with postings, courses, training sessions, professional conferences and seminars unless, in the case of courses, training sessions, professional conferences or seminars, the employee is required to attend by the Employer.

16.04

(b)

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**

(c) on a day of rest or on a designated paid holiday, the employee shall be paid at the applicable overtime rate for each completed period of fifteen (15) minutes travelled to a maximum of twelve (12) hours' pay at the straight-time hourly rate of pay.

ARTICLE 17
PART-TIME EMPLOYEES

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17.05 Designated Holidays

A part-time employee shall not be paid for the designated holidays but shall instead be paid a premium of four decimal two five per cent (4.25%) for all straight-time hours worked during the period of part-time employment.

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17.06 Notwithstanding clause 17.02, when a part-time employee is required to work on a day which is prescribed as a designated paid holiday for a full-time employee in Article 15 she shall be paid at time and one-half (1 1/2) for each completed period of fifteen (15) minutes worked.

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17.09 Vacation Leave

A part-time employee shall earn vacation leave credits for each month in which she receives pay for at least twice (2) the number of hours in her normal work week, at the rate for years of service established in clause 20.02, prorated and calculated as follows:

(a) when the entitlement is one decimal twenty-five (1.25) days a month, 0.250 multiplied by the number of hours in the employee's work week per month;

(b) when the entitlement is one decimal sixty-seven (1.67) days a month, 0.333 multiplied by the number of hours in the employee's work week per month;

(c) when the entitlement is one decimal eighty-four (1.84) days a month, 0.367 multiplied by the number of hours in the employee's work week per month;

(d) when the entitlement is one decimal ninety-two (1.92) days a month, 0.383 multiplied by the number of hours in the employee's work week per month;

(e) when the entitlement is two decimal zero nine (2.09) days a month, 0.417 multiplied by the number of hours in the employee's work week per month;

(f) when the entitlement is two decimal twenty-five (2.25) days a month, 0.450 multiplied by the number of hours in the employee's work week per month;

(g) when the entitlement is two decimal fifty (2.50) days a month, 0.500 multiplied by the number of hours in the employee's work week per month;

(h) however, a part-time employee who has received or is entitled to receive furlough leave shall have her vacation leave credits earned reduced by 0.083 multiplied by the number of hours in the part-time workweek, beginning in the month in which the twentieth (20^th) anniversary of service occurs until the beginning of the month in which her twenty-fifth (25^th) anniversary of service occurs.

ARTICLE 18
SEVERANCE PAY

18.02

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(a) On first lay-off, two (2) weeks' pay for the first year of continuous employment and one (1) week's pay for each additional complete year of continuous employment, and in the case of a partial year of continuous employment, one (1) week's pay multiplied by the number of days of continuous employment divided by three hundred and sixty-five (365).

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(b) On second or subsequent lay-off, one (1) week's pay for each complete year of continuous employment, and in the case of a partial year of continuous employment, one (1) week's pay multiplied by the number of days of continuous employment divided by three hundred and sixty-five (365), less any period in respect of which the employee was granted severance pay under (a) above.

ARTICLE 19
LEAVE GENERAL

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19.03 Except as otherwise specified in this Agreement, where leave without pay for a period in excess of three (3) months is granted to an employee for reasons other than illness, the total period of leave granted shall be deducted from "continuous employment" for the purpose of calculating severance pay and "service" for the purpose of calculating vacation leave.

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19.04 In the event of termination of employment for reasons other than incapacity, death or lay-off, the Employer shall recover from any monies owed the employee an amount equivalent to unearned vacation and sick leave taken by the employee, as calculated from the classification prescribed in the employee's certificate of appointment on the date of the termination of the employee's employment.

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19.05 When the employment of an employee who has been granted more sick or vacation leave with pay than she has earned is terminated by lay-off, she is considered to have earned the amount of leave with pay granted to her if at the time of her lay-off she has completed two (2) or more years of continuous employment.

ARTICLE 20
VACATION LEAVE

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20.02 Accumulation of Vacation Leave

An employee who has earned at least ten (10) days' regular pay during any calendar month of a vacation year shall earn vacation leave credits at the following rates in respect of that month:

(a) one decimal twenty-five (1.25) days per month until the month in which the anniversary of his eighth (8^th) year of service occurs;

(b) one decimal sixty-seven (1.67) days per month commencing with the month in which his eighth (8^th) anniversary of service occurs;

(c) one decimal eighty-four (1.84) days commencing with the month in which his sixteenth (16^th) anniversary of service occurs;

(d) one decimal ninety-two (1.92) days per month commencing with the month in which his seventeenth (17^th) anniversary of service occurs;

(e) two decimal zero nine (2.09) days per month commencing with the month in which his eighteenth (18^th ) anniversary of service occurs;

(f) two decimal twenty-five (2.25) days commencing with the month in which his twenty-seventh (27^th) anniversary of service occurs;

(g) two decimal fifty (2.50) days per month commencing with the month in which his twenty-eighth (28^th) anniversary of service occurs;

(h) notwithstanding the provisions of clauses (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e), an employee who is entitled to or who has received furlough leave, shall have his vacation leave credits earned under this Article, reduced by zero decimal forty-two (0.42) of a day per month from the beginning of the month in which he completes his twentieth (20^th) year of service until the beginning of the month in which he completes his twenty-fifth (25^th) year of service.

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20.13 Where the employee requests, the Employer shall grant the employee his or her unused vacation leave credits prior to termination of employment if this will enable the employee, for purposes of severance pay, to complete the first (1^st) year of continuous employment in the case of lay-off, and the tenth (10^th) year of continuous employment in the case of resignation.

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20.14 Advance Payments

(a) The Employer agrees to issue advance payments of estimated net salary for vacation periods of two (2) or more complete weeks, provided a written request for such advance payment is received from the employee at least six (6) weeks prior to the last pay day before the employee's vacation period commences.

(b) Providing the employee has been authorized to proceed on vacation leave for the period concerned, pay in advance of going on vacation shall be made prior to the commencement of leave. Any overpayment in respect of such pay advances shall be an immediate first charge against any subsequent pay entitlements and shall be recovered in full prior to any further payment of salary.

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20.15 Notwithstanding clause 20.10, an employee who resigns to accept an appointment with an organization listed in Part II of Schedule I of the Public Service Staff Relations Act may choose not to be paid for unused vacation and furlough leave credits, provided that the appointing organization will accept such credits.

ARTICLE 22
INJURY-ON-DUTY LEAVE WITH PAY

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22.01 An employee shall be granted injury-on-duty leave with pay for such period as may be reasonably determined by the Employer when a claim has been made pursuant to the Government employees Compensation Act and a Worker's Compensation authority has notified the Employer that it has certified that employee is unable to work because of:

(a) personal injury accidentally received in the performance of his or her duties and not caused by the employee's wilful misconduct,

or

(b) an industrial illness or a disease arising out of and in the course of the employee's employment,

if the employee agrees to remit to the Receiver General of Canada any amount received by him or her in compensation for loss of pay resulting from or in respect of such injury, illness or disease providing, however, that such amount does not stem from a personal disability policy for which the employee or the employee's agent has paid the premium.

**ARTICLE 25
LEAVE WITHOUT PAY FOR THE CARE OF IMMEDIATE FAMILY

25.01 Both parties recognize the importance of access to leave for the purpose of care for the immediate family.

25.02 For the purpose of this article, family is defined as spouse (or common-law spouse resident with the employee), children (including foster children or children of legal or common-law spouse) parents (including stepparents or foster parents) or any relative permanently residing in the employee's household or with whom the employee permanently resides.

25.03 Subject to paragraph 25.02, an employee shall be granted leave without pay for the Care of Family in accordance with the following conditions:

(a) an employee shall notify the Employer in writing as far in advance as possible but not less than four (4) weeks in advance of the commencement date of such leave, unless, because of urgent or unforeseeable circumstances, such notice cannot be given;

(b) leave granted under this Article shall be for a minimum period of three (3) weeks;

(c) the total leave granted under this article shall not exceed five (5) years during an employee's total period of employment in the Public Service;

(d) leave granted for a period of one (1) year or less shall be scheduled in a manner which ensures continued service delivery;

(e) time spent on such leave which is for a period of more than three (3) months shall not be counted for pay increment purposes.

25.04 An employee who has proceeded on leave without pay may change his or her return to work date if such change does not result in additional costs to the Employer.

Transitional provisions

25.05

These transitional provisions are applicable to employees who have been granted and have proceeded on leave on or after the date of signature of this agreement.

An employee who, on the date of signature of this agreement, is on Leave Without Pay for the Care and Nurturing of Pre-School Age Children (Article 25) or on Leave Without Pay for the Long-Term Care of a Parent and Other Family-Related Needs (Article 27) under the terms of the agreement expired on July 1, 2001, continues on that leave for the approved duration or until the employee's return to work, if the employee returns to work before the end of the approved leave.

An employee who becomes a member of the bargaining unit on or after the date of signature of this agreement and who is on Leave Without Pay for the Care and Nurturing of Pre-School Age Children or on Leave Without Pay for the Long-Term Care of a Parent and Other Family-related needs or under the terms of another agreement, continues on that leave for the approved duration or until the employee's return to work, if the employee returns to work before the end of the approved leave.

All leave granted under Leave Without Pay for the Long-Term Care of a Parent and Other Family-related Needs or under Leave Without Pay for the Care and Nurturing of Pre-School Age Children under the terms of previous Foreign Service collective agreements or other agreements will not count towards the calculation of the maximum amount of time allowed for Care of Immediate Family during an employee's total period of employment in the Public Service.

ARTICLE 26
LEAVE WITH PAY FOR
FAMILY-RELATED RESPONSIBILITIES

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26.01 For the purpose of this Article, family is defined as spouse (or common-law partner resident with the employee), children (including children of legal or common-law partner), foster children, parents (including stepparents or foster parents), or any relative permanently residing in the employee's household or with whom the employee permanently resides.

26.03

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(a) up to one (1) day to take a family member for medical or dental appointments, or for appointments with school authorities or adoption agencies, if the supervisor was notified of the appointment as far in advance as possible;

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(d) two (2) days' leave with pay for needs directly related to the birth or to the adoption of his child, which may be divided into two (2) periods and granted on separate days.

**ARTICLE 27
LEAVE WITHOUT PAY FOR PERSONAL NEEDS

27.01 Leave without pay will be granted for personal needs in the following manner:

(a) subject to operational requirements, leave without pay for a period of up to three (3) months will be granted to an employee for personal needs;

(b) subject to operational requirements, leave without pay for more than three (3) months but not exceeding one (1) year will be granted to an employee for personal needs;

(c) an employee is entitled to leave without pay for personal needs only once under each of paragraphs (a) and (b) during the employee's total period of employment in the Public Service. Leave without pay granted under this clause may not be used in combination with maternity or parental leave without the consent of the Employer;

(d) time spent on such leave in excess of three (3) months shall not be counted for pay increment purposes.

ARTICLE 30
BEREAVEMENT LEAVE WITH PAY

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30.01 For the purpose of this Article, immediate family is defined as father, mother, (or alternatively stepfather, stepmother, or foster parent), brother, sister, spouse (including common-law partner resident with the employee), child (including child of common-law partner), stepchild or ward of the employee, grandchild, grand-parent, father-in-law, mother-in-law and relative permanently residing in the employee's household or with whom the employee permanently resides.

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(a) When a member of his immediate family dies, an employee shall be entitled to a bereavement period of five (5) consecutive calendar days which must include the day of the funeral. During such period he shall be paid for those days which are not regularly scheduled days of rest for him. In addition, he may be granted up to three (3) days' leave with pay for the purpose of travel related to the death.

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30.02 An employee is entitled to one (1) day's bereavement leave with pay for the purpose related to the death of his or her son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law or sister-in-law.

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30.03 If, during a period of sick leave, vacation leave or compensatory leave, an employee is bereaved in circumstances under which he would have been eligible for bereavement leave with pay under clauses 30.01 or 30.02, he shall be granted bereavement leave with pay and his compensatory leave credits shall be restored to the extent of any concurrent bereavement leave with pay granted.

**ARTICLE 37
VOLUNTEER LEAVE

37.01 Subject to operational requirements as determined by the Employer and with an advance notice of at least five (5) working days, the employee shall be granted, in each fiscal year, one (1) day of leave with pay to work as a volunteer for a charitable or community organisation or activity, other than for activities related to the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign.

The leave will be scheduled at times convenient to both the employee and the Employer. Nevertheless, the Employer shall make every reasonable effort to grant the leave at such times as the employee may request.

ARTICLE 38
LEAVE WITH OR WITHOUT PAY FOR OTHER REASONS

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38.02 Personal Leave

Subject to operational requirements as determined by the Employer and with an advance notice of at least five (5) working days, the employee shall be granted, in each fiscal year, one (1) day of leave with pay for reasons of a personal nature.

The leave will be scheduled at times convenient to both the employee and the Employer. Nevertheless, the Employer shall make every reasonable effort to grant the leaves at such times as the employee may request.

ARTICLE 39
FOREIGN SERVICE DIRECTIVES AND
NATIONAL JOINT COUNCIL AGREEMENTS

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39.04 Upon request of an employee, the Employer shall make available at a mutually satisfactory time National Joint Council Agreements which form part of this collective agreement and which have a direct bearing on the requesting employee's terms and conditions of employment.

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39.05

(a) The following directives, as amended from time to time by National Joint Council recommendation and which have been approved by the Treasury Board of Canada, form part of this Agreement:

(b) During the term of this Agreement, other directives may be added to the above noted list.

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39.06 Grievances in regard to the above directives shall be filed in accordance with clause 8.01 of the Article on grievance procedure in this Agreement.

**ARTICLE 43
REGISTRATION FEES

43.01 The Employer shall reimburse an employee for his payment of membership or other fees to a professional organization or organizations when the payment of such fees is necessary to maintain a professional qualification required by the Employer for the performance of any duties and/or responsibilities assigned.

**ARTICLE 44
JOB SECURITY

44.01 Subject to the willingness and capacity of individual employees to accept relocation and retraining, the Employer will make every reasonable effort to ensure that any reduction in the work force will be accomplished through attrition.

**ARTICLE 45
LABOUR DISPUTES

45.01 If employees are prevented from performing their duties because of a strike or lock-out on the premises of another employer, the employees shall report the matter to the Employer, and the Employer will make reasonable efforts to ensure that such employees are employed elsewhere, so that they shall receive their regular pay and benefits to which they would normally be entitled.

ARTICLE 46
PAY ADMINISTRATION

46.04 In-range Pay Increases

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(a) Effective August 1 of each year, commencing August 1, 2001, a full-time employee at the FS-2 level shall receive an in-range pay increment, unless his or her performance is less than fully satisfactory.

46.06 In-Range Relativity Increase for FS-1 employees

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Effective January 1, 2002, this clause is deleted from the agreement.

Notwithstanding paragraph 46.04(b)(ii), commencing on December 31, 1998, the pay of an employee at the FS-1 level shall be at least equal to the following rates of pay which are based on completed years of experience at that level as of December 31, 1998:

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46.07 Acting Pay

An employee who is required by the Employer to substantially perform and performs the duties of a position which is classified at a higher classification level on an acting basis for a period in excess of four (4) consecutive working days shall be paid acting pay calculated from the date on which he commenced to act as if he had been appointed to that higher classification level for the period he acts.

When an acting assignment is in an Executive (EX) position, the employee is excluded from the application of Article 12 (Overtime) for the period where the employee is subject to the Performance Management Program for Executives. For greater certainty, an employee receiving payments provided under Article 12 (Overtime), shall not be subject to the Performance Management Program for Executives for the same time period.

When a day designated as a paid holiday occurs during the qualifying period, the holiday shall be considered as a day worked for the purpose of the qualifying period.

ARTICLE 48
TERM OF AGREEMENT

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48.01 The duration of this Agreement shall be from the date it is signed to June 30, 2003.

SIGNED AT OTTAWA, this 13^th day of the month of August 2002.

**APPENDIX "A"

FOREIGN SERVICE GROUP
PAY RANGES
(in dollars)

(X) Pay Adjustment Effective July 1, 2001
(A) Effective July 1, 2001
(Y) Pay Restructure Effective January 1, 2002
(B) Effective July 1, 2002

PAY NOTES

1. FS-1 Employees

Employees who are subject to paragraph 46.06, who are at $51,507 on December 31, 2001 will move to $54,141 on January 1, 2002.

2. Pay Restructure - FS-2 Level

Employees who have been at the maximum rate of pay for their level for more than twelve (12) months on August 1, 2001, will move to the new maximum rate of pay effective August 1, 2001.

3. Pay Adjustment - FS-2 Level

Effective July 1, 2001, an FS-2 employee shall be paid in (X) range of rates at the rate that is nearest to but not less than 4.4% higher than the employee's rate of pay on June 30, 2001.